Written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 for the play Landscape with Chimneys about Salford an industrial town in northern England. The Shane MacGowan the Pogues make it their own. And its in keeping with their spirit; the town is awful, polluted, dirty, declining before it ever peaked, and life is hard, but still there is some romantic hope.
The only one who could sing it better was Brian McShane, but that’s another story.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/s11BuatTuXk?si=958N4ETSUutwBDRX
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0qH487xSz8Z6Xk4kyOQkbG?si=5b4a7362a73c4ee0